Saturday, January 9, 2010

Troy High by Shana Norris

Narrated by Cassie, a shy outsider who fears that an epic high school rivalry is about to go up in flames, the story follows the Trojans and Spartans as they declare war on the football field. After the beautiful Elena—who used to be the captain of the Spartan cheerleaders—transfers to Troy High and falls madly in love with Cassie’s brother Perry, the Spartans vow that the annual homecoming game will never be forgotten.

The Trojans and Spartans pull wicked pranks on each other as homecoming approaches. And the Spartans’ wildcard football star, Ackley, promises to take down the Trojans’ offensive line. But the stakes are raised when Cassie is forced to choose between the boy she loves (a Spartan) and loyalty to her family and school.

Troy High was a mixture of things- humorous, romantic, back-stabbing, and just full of that good old teenage angst. I’ve never read Homer’s Illiad, but it’s fairly easy to see just how much hard work and dedication was put into this novel. I’m considering reading it just to compare, and me reading classic fiction such as that is pretty odd.

Though the characters were a bit cliché, they were wonderfully crafted to make the war between schools even more bitter. My favorite battle was between Cassie, the narrator and her best friend turned crush, Greg. Though Shana wrote based on Illiad, their relationship was reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, which is never a bad thing. (Well .. only if you leave out the tragic ending.)

The pranks and betrayal and anger between the rival schools was incredibly entertaining and enthralling to read about. I read the entire book in one sitting; dying to know what prank one school did to get back at the other.

I don’t really have a lot to say about this one. It was a quick yet extremely entertaining novel. I suggest it to anybody in the mood for a light and comical read!